The changeover dinner for the Rotary Club of Warragul saw Ross Dawson installed as the President for 2018/19.

In outlining his plans for the upcoming year Ross committed the club to continue its contribution to both the local community and wider Rotary activities. “Fund raising, making donations and initiating new community projects are all strengths of the club” said Ross.

A priority for Ross this year as President is to expand the range of club social activities. Ross said it is important for club members to enjoy their time in Rotary activities and share that enjoyment with partners, friends and family. Ross has already organised inter club visits with the Rotary clubs in Drouin and Moe and hopes to have meetings with the Rotary clubs of Trafalgar and Morwell.

Ross said much of the work of Rotary in both our local community and more broadly goes unrecognised. With this in mind Ross will be ensuring the club puts more effort into raising the profile of the club by promoting its wide range of projects and donations.

Ross was inducted as the new club President by District Governor Janne Speirs. They both unfurled the Rotary theme banner for 2018/19 “Be the inspiration”.

Janne Speirs also congratulated Warragul Club members Peter Dell and Anthea Dacy for taking on district leadership roles. Peter Dell will be Assistant Area Governor for West Gippsland and Anthea Dacy will lead the Donations-In-Kind district committee.

Donation-In-Kind is a recycling operation run by Rotary that specialises in collecting reusable goods that are then donated to worthwhile Rotary projects primarily in overseas countries. Our district supports the operation of a large warehouse in West Footscray.